ECW on The SciFi Network
Taped in Houston, Tex.

[Q1] In the pre-show commercial, Mike Adamle and Tazz hyped Kane vs. Mark Henry, and Matt Hardy debuting as the newest member of the ECW roster... The show opened with highlights from Raw of Vince McMahon's stage stunt...

Teddy Long stood in the ring and stated that in light of Vince's accident, everyone in ECW is keeping him in their thoughts. He said he is not allowed to reveal any info regarding Vince's condition due to family privacy laws. He said Vince would want the show to go on and "that's exactly what we're going to do, player." Teddy introduced Matt Hardy as the newest member of the ECW roster.

Powell's POV: The showed a shot of the crowd when Teddy made the statement about Vince and everyone was laughing. I guess people aren't buying into this one as much as they limo angle.

1. Matt Hardy and C.M. Punk defeated John Morrison and The Miz in a non-title match in 8:20. The announcers noted that Punk is a former member of ECW and that he'd been drafted to Raw, but they didn't explain why he was working an ECW match. The show cut to break after some back and forth action. [C]

[Q2] The heels took turns working over Punk until he made the hot tag to Hardy. The live crowd popped big for Hardy's offense as he worked over Morrison and scored a nearfall. Later, Hornswoggle emerged from under the ring and distracted Miz long enough to prevent him from interfering. Moments later, Hardy hit the Twist of Fate on Morrison and scored the pin... [C]

Powell's POV: I know the champions are facing Hornswoggle and Finlay at the pay-per-view, but this match should have been all about Hardy. It was for the most part, but let Hornswoggle mess with the champions backstage or something. Unless I missed something Teddy said, they never bothered to explain why Punk was allowed to wrestle on ECW.

2. Kofi Kingston defeated Shelton Benjamin in an Extreme Rules match. Tazz explained the extreme rules stipulations to Adamle before the match. Funny. Early in the match, Kofi hit a high drop kick and then got even more air when he dove over the top rope onto Shelton on the floor. Shelton recovered, grabbed the ring announcers' microphone, and smacked Kofi with it.

[Q3] Shelton rammed Kofi into the stairs at ringside. Shelton controlled the next few minutes of the match an suplexed Kofi onto a trash can in the ring. The crowd rallied behind Kofi and chanted his name. Kofi made his comeback by slamming the lid of the can into Shelton's head repeatedly. Later, Kofi hit the Trouble in Paradise on Benjamin for the win...

Powell's POV: Nice match. Very entertaining. Kofi and Shelton have developed good chemistry together. The live crowds are really reacting to Kofi.

The announcers hyped Kane vs. Mark Henry for later in the show... [C] A video recapped the WWE draft and concluded with a graphic that read, "The landscape has changed"... The announcers ran through the Night of Champions pay-per-view lineup and explained that the winners of the title belts will take the belt to their new brands... A shot aired of Kane standing and laughing backstage... [C]

[Q4] Highlights aired from last week of Mike Knox roughing up Evan Bourne...

3. Mike Knox pinned Evan Bourne in 3:45.. The ring announcer billed Bourne as weighting 178 pounds. Damn. Even Greg Gagne was billed at 218 pounds. Bourne used his quickness to take a momentary advantage, but Knox came back with a great short-arm clothesline that drew some oohs from the crowd.

Bourne worked over Knox's knee and Tazz compared it to chopping down a redwood tree. Boune hit a great missile dropkick. However, Knox caught Bourne when he tried a spinning kick and dropped him into a backbreaker position. Knox hit his unnamed twisting finishing move and scored the pin... [C]

Powell's POV: Another entertaining match. I'm sure there will be plenty of people disappointed that Bourne lost this match, but Knox is coming along nicely as a big heel on ECW. Bourne will still be over despite the loss and Knox needs to win matches to get over as a monster.

A Raw commercial hyped that Rey Mysterio and Batista had been drafted to Raw, questioned what will happen in the wake of Vince McMahon's "shocking accident"... Big Show was introduced and he joined the announcers on commentary for the Kane match...

[Overrun] 4. Mark Henry pinned Kane in 4:30. Show said he's 100 percent following his eye injury at the One Night Stand pay-per-view. A graphic at the bottom of the screen noted that supplemental draft information will be available at WWE.com tomorrow at noon. Mostly punching and kicking. Henry used a bear hug to wear down Kane.

Late in the match, Kane went to climb to the top rope, but he was distracted by Big Show on commentary. Moments later, Henry finished off Kane with a powerslam. Show said on commentary that Kane shouldn't have been worried about him. Adamle wished everyone a good night to end the show...

Powell's POV: That match was not effective in building up the Kane vs. Big Show pay-per-view match. It was also the most boring match on an otherwise solid show. I enjoyed the in-ring action, but the show was not effective in setting up the Kane vs. Show, Miz and Morrison vs. Finlay and Hornswoggle, or Matt Hardy vs. Chavo Guerrero matches. In that regard, it was a wasted hour.

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